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Old Rosebud Greatest Of Winners: Molesworth Rode Him in Many Races but Not In Downs Classic Score in 1914 CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 2. — George Molesworth, a patrol judge under whose vision will come the Kentucky Derby, among other races here tomorrow, believes the greatest winner of them all was Old Rosebud. Opinions would vary as to this, but Molesworth has some ammunition to back up his opinion. He rode Old Rosebud in many races, although not in the Derby. "He was like a machine," says Molesworth. "When you stepped on the gas, he responded and would shoot forward. He ran like a machine, too." Molesworth s greatest disappointment in the Derby was not in being able to ride Governor Gray in 1911. He piloted Governor Gray to victory in the first running of the Blue Grass Stakes that year, and the horse came up to the Derby as a favorite. But on the last day of the Lexington meeting, Molesworth sustained a fall and a broken collar bone. It effectively prevented him from continuing on with the horse here. Governor Gray ran second to Meridian, and although beaten by three parts of a length, was flying through the stretch after dropping far out early, and was rapidly gaining. To this day, Molesworth believes he would have won had he ridden because h© understood the horse and his moods so well. Molesworth is a native of Boerne, Texas, and started galloping horses for T. Trusten Polk of San Antonio. After proper seasoning, he made his debut as a regular rider in 1907, and did not hang up his tack until 1918. But two great horses, Governor Gray, who did not win, and Old Rosebud, who won but which he did not ride, made an unfortunate circumstance and just missed putting the name of Molesworth into the immortal records of the Derby.
